As moms, we try to make healthy choices for our family. We make smart grocery lists, meal plan, prep, and cook. We are the gatekeeper to our family’s health.

But food labels can be tricky. While some companies work towards making their labels easier to decipher, others are omitting or disguising ingredients to make you more inclined to buy their product.

So when you have done your research and made purchases you feel are best for your family, this is the last thing you want to hear.

Over the years, food recalls have become more and more common. They have also become more prevalent in foods that logically should not be coming into contact with contaminants.

These are not heavily processed foods that go through numerous steps of mixing and baking in a processing plant. These are foods that should be going from farm to table – and some are even marketed this way!

Alas, Mann Packing of Salinas, California has issued a recall for its prepackaged vegetables.

The affected producewas sold at Walmart and Trader Joes both in the United States and Canada.

The contaminating culprit once again is listeria – a dangerous bacteria that can be found in soil that has been contaminated by infected animal feces. Yum!

The CDC reports,

“Listeriosis is a serious infection caused by the germ Listeria monocytogenes. People usually become ill with listeriosis after eating contaminated food. The disease primarily affects pregnant women, newborns, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems. It’s rare for people in other groups to get sick with Listeria infection.

Listeriosis is usually a mild illness for pregnant women, but it causes severe disease in the fetus or newborn baby. Some people with Listeria infections, most commonly adults 65 years and older and people with weakened immune systems, develop severe infections of the bloodstream (causing sepsis) or brain (causing meningitis or encephalitis). Listeria infections can sometimes affect other parts of the body, including bones, joints, and sites in the chest and abdomen.”

As a mom, these words can be paralyzing. You may begin to think you should skip the vegetables at the next meal. But take heart, even while these recalls become more common, there are safety protocols in place to protect you and your family and there are a few precautions you can take.

It is important to keep up with the news from a trusted broadcast or website, like Mommy Underground, in case your purchases are affected by a recall.

If you or a member of your family is at a higher risk of being affected by listeria, opt to cook your vegetables instead of eating them raw.

And, of course, make sure to properly wash all your produce, even if it says it is “pre-washed”!

Buying organic or even fresh produce can also cut your risk. You should buy the option with the least amount of processing.

Don’t let this or other recalls keep your family from eating healthy. Doing your research and taking the necessary precautions will allow you to feed your family safely.

For more tips on eating healthy check out Mommy Underground’s recent tips here.

What do you think? Has your family or someone you know been affected by a food recall? Will this latest recall change how your family buys groceries or eats vegetables? Please leave us your comments in the comments section below.

And you can find the complete list of recalled products on the FDA’s website here.